🔗 Share this article

The matrix of futility is reloaded in this tediously complex sci-fi film, closer to a screensaver than an real cinematic experience. This is a third installment to the original movie Tron from the early 80s, a movie that was groundbreaking and boldly pioneering for its time in a way that eludes this film and its predecessor Tron Legacy from 2010. The new Tron film almost awakens just one time – when Evan Peters gets a smack in the face from Gillian Anderson's character playing his mum, in an traditional bit of real-world action. This is a bit of firm parenting you might want to administering to all the producers involved in this movie, and it's sad to see the estimable Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith being made to look so uninspired.

Plot Overview of Tron: Ares

The scenario currently is that an malicious artificial intelligence company with the obviously criminal name of Dillinger Corp has become a competitor to the virtual reality firm Encom, originally set up in the 80s arcade-game era by brilliant innovator Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. This Dillinger (originally set up by Encom's executive Ed Dillinger's role, acted by David Warner) is led by the founder's annoyingly geeky grandson Julian (Evan Peters), who has a grand plan to develop and produce lucrative items such as invincible troops and tanks in the VR world and then export them into the real world using a kind of 3D printer.

The problem is that no matter how intimidating, these things disintegrate after 29 minutes. But Encom's present chief executive Eve Kim's character (Greta Lee) has discovered the MacGuffin-y “permanence code” which can maintain these entities permanently, and even stores it on her person on a very low-tech USB drive. So the ghastly Julian Dillinger deploys his enforcer on her: Ares the warrior, the humanoid uber-warrior which can exit the virtual realm for 29 minutes at a time but which, in the traditional way of androids, is starting to exhibit symptoms of not doing what he is commanded. Jodie Turner-Smith portrays Ares's stoic deputy Athena and poor Jeff Bridges has a wooden legacy appearance in wise white robes, like a budget Jor-El on Krypton.

Character and Performance Breakdown

And Ares himself – the protagonist of the film's name – is acted by Jared Leto with trendy lengthy locks, facial hair and subtly omniscient grin, touches that were possibly designed by inputting the words “incredibly irritating” into an artificial intelligence character generator. Nobody who remembers the 90s TV classic My So-Called Life will ever find it in their hearts to be completely harsh about Mr Leto, and I was also very entertained by his broad (and widely misinterpreted) comic turn in Ridley Scott's movie House of Gucci. But Leto is consistently, persistently awful in this film, although he isn't helped by a weak storyline which is intended to allow him to show flashes of “empathy” for Greta Lee's character and subcontract all the badass wickedness to Athena's character, thus making her slightly more engaging. It is supposed to be adorable when Ares says how he adores 80s synth pop and that Depeche Mode band are superior to Mozart.

Franchise Elements and Final Impression

Consistent with the franchise identity of the series, there are motorbikes from the virtual underworld which speed around the environment in linear paths, adhering to the rectilinear design of antique arcade games (or indeed nightclubs); one even emits a death ray which slices a police vehicle in half. But there is no drama or danger or emotional engagement anywhere. This series now looks about as urgently contemporary as an automobile CD system.